Posted on 03/24/2006 12:22:18 PM PST by summer
NEW YORK Ben Domenech's conservative blog Red America lasted all of three days at the Washington Post. He quit today after numerous examples of alleged plagiarism in his work surfaced. Yesterday, in a seprate matter, he had apologized for calling Coretta Scott King a "Communist" the day after her recent funeral.
The embarrassing episode for the Post culminated Friday afternoon when washingtonpost.com executive editor Jim Brady posted the following notice on the Web site:
"In the past 24 hours, we learned of allegations that Ben Domenech plagiarized material that appeared under his byline in various publications prior to washingtonpost.com contracting with him to write a blog that launched Tuesday.
"An investigation into these allegations was ongoing, and in the interim, Domenech has resigned, effective immediately.
"When we hired Domenech, we were not aware of any allegations that he had plagiarized any of his past writings. In any cases where allegations such as these are made, we will continue to investigate those charges thoroughly in order to maintain our journalistic integrity.
"Plagiarism is perhaps the most serious offense that a writer can commit or be accused of. Washingtonpost.com will do everything in its power to verify that its news and opinion content is sourced completely and accurately at all times.
"We appreciate the speed and thoroughness with which our readers and media outlets surfaced these allegations. Despite the turn this has taken, we believe this event, among other things, testifies to the positive and powerful role that the Internet can play in the the practice of journalism.
"We also remain committed to representing a broad spectrum of ideas and ideologies in our Opinions area."
David Brock, president of the liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America, issued a statement in response:
“We at Media Matters are pleased the Ben Domenech will no longer be employed by the Post, but serious questions remain about why he was originally hired. The Post still needs to explain why a partisan operative who admits he is not a journalist and who has a history of racially charged rhetoric, homophobic bigotry, and serial plagiarism was given a platform on Washingtonpost.com in the first place. We look forward to a full explanation of these and related issues by the Post.”
Criticism of the Post's hiring of Domenech had also emerged from within the paper's own ranks. Political reporter Dana Milbank in an online chat at the paper's Web site said today: "What I don't understand (although I haven't inquired) is why the website couldn't recruit somebody with more stature to do the job. This city is crawling with good conservative journalists with lots of heft."
Also, isn't that paper supposed to have a permanent ombudsman?
So, I agree with Michelle Malkin that he should go.
It still doesn't mean that the one thing and only thing liberals are good at is....
censorship.
But what does that position have to do with hiring a blogger for political commentary?
Yeah, conservatives sunk the only conservative at the Post because they could not stay off their high horse for a minute to allow the left to do the dirty work for them. What a victory!
No, he's a girlyman.
I was 'gonna correct her... but then again... I had no proof.
Or syndicate Thomas Sowell. That would make me almost want to subscribe to the WaPo. Almost.
Seriously, I've never heard of the guy, has any Freeper?
Nope. I do a lot of reading, and check out a lot of blogs, but I'd never heard of this guy. If he is a Conservative, he's one with absolutely no pedigree or name recognition as a writer. Just the kind of guy you'd expect the WaPo to hire.
Owl_Eagle(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
ROTFLMAO...
We all know that WaPo is on the left, but at least they attempt the occasional balancing effort. NYT sure doesn't feature George Will and Charles Krauthammer on their op-ed page like WaPo does.
He was the co-founder of redstate.com, a blog known to a number of people.
"She's a man, baby!"
Hey, I don't know what happened here. If WaPo wanted the most "heft" noi a conservatove known to all bloggers, they should have offered the job to Jim Robinson of uh, what's that forum, FR or something? :)
It sure is a victory. Conservatives place principle before party. If we didn't trash this plagiarist we would be no better than the lefties.
Hey, I don't know what happened here. If WaPo wanted the most "heft" in a conservative known to all bloggers, they should have offered the job to Jim Robinson of uh, what's that forum, FR or something? :)
LOL Summer... Jim would end up taking over the place. They wouldn't know what hit 'em! :-)
Yes, but I am also a fan of due process -- and I still haven't seen any statement from the subject blogger.
Translation: "We're thrilled another conservative voice has been silenced."
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